introduction
A very warm welcome back to my current series, ladies and gentlemen. In this leg of the journey, I'll be flying Turkish Airlines' new Airbus A321neo on a flight from Istanbul to Vienna. As I mentioned in the previous installment of the series, I had really wanted to fly Turkish Airlines since my only previous trip with them back in 2013. For this journey, a good opportunity arose, and to celebrate me getting my first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, my dad and I decided to fly home to Austria with a stop in Istanbul. In addition, this would be my very first flight on an A321neo, so I was also very much looking forward to that!
trip information
I originally booked a basic VIE-SOF-VIE roundtrip for 16,000 United Miles. Upon booking, my routing looked like this:
OS799 | Vienna - Sofia | Embraer 195
OS798 | Sofia - Vienna | Airbus A319
However, for no extra cost, I was able to change my journey to have the following routing:
Flight routing
- 1
- 2
- 3TK1883 - Economy - Istanbul → Vienna - Airbus A321neo
- 4
The final leg of the flight was booked separately as a revenue fare.
turkish airlines miles&smiles lounge istanbul
At around 6 AM, my dad and I left the Yotel and headed back to the Miles&Smiles Lounge in hopes of having breakfast, as I wasn't sure if there would be any food served onboard given the lack of service on the previous flight.
I didn't take any photos of the lounge this time, as it was more crowded than it was the previous night. Check out the bonus section of my previous report to see photos of the lounge itself!
The buffet section consisted of exactly the same selection as the night before…
…except this morning there were also paninis. Both types were with tomato and cheese. I tried one of each, and they were both delicious.
Boarding was scheduled to begin at 06:50, so we left the lounge around 20 minutes before that.
istanbul airport (ist)
We took our time heading to the gate, as it was nice to take in the sights of a major airport again. My dad had still been travelling quite a bit during the pandemic and had actually connected through IST a month earlier, but for me it was a treat and a delight to experience the feeling of such a massive airport again!
My flight to Vienna was departing from gate B9B, towards the end of the northwestern-most pier at Istanbul Airport.
The 06:50 boarding time was meant to encourage all passengers to get to the gate, so that the gate agents could conduct a check that all passengers were eligible to enter Austria.
boarding + initial impressions
Boarding began around 07:15, and to my surprise was a bit of a mess. There was no priority boarding, and all passengers queued up and boarded at once.
At the gate next to us, another Turkish A321neo.
Down the jetbridge. It's a shame that they didn't opt for glass jetbridges at such a new airport ?
There were no views of our aircraft (apart from the sharklet) from the gate area, so the only photo I have of the aircraft is a fuselage shot. Flying me back to Austria was TC-LSK, a 1.5-year-old Airbus A321neo built and delivered to Turkish Airlines in October 2019. Can we also take a moment to appreciate the beauty of that PW Engine?? ?
I was handed my hygiene kit in the jetbridge and greeted by a friendly purser before passing through a spiffy-looking Business Class cabin.
The Economy Class cabin also wasn't half bad.
At my seat 19A.
The legroom wasn't quite as good as the 737 I was on the night before, but was still pretty good.
In the seatback pocket were an airsickness bag…
…as well as the safety instruction card.
I liked the fact that the seatback has two smaller pockets as well. I stored my phone in there for the duration of the flight.
Coat hook.
The PTV was crisp, clear, and a bit bigger than the one on the 737.
It also used a different software, which was a bit more intuitive and responsive.
The selection included many TV shows, a whole section about Turkish Airlines…
…and 427 movies! Quite possibly the most expansive entertainment system in the skies.
The map section featured a lot of stats to make any AvGeek happy! ?
From what I saw, the only charger was the USB port on the PTV. It's possible that there was a universal power plug under the seat, but I forgot to look for it.
Adjustable headrest.
Nice wing view from my seat.
turkish airlines 1883 - istanbul to vienna
I'd estimate that the load factor in the back was close to 95%, which was a welcome sight. Once everyone was onboard, the captain welcomed us onboard and announced a flight time of 2 hours to Vienna.
Despite the full flight, my middle seat remained open, and I put my bag under 18B, which gave me a bit more space.
As we began to pushback, the safety video screened.
Of course, the aircraft featured new, pristine PSUs.
The engine startup reminded me a bit of a GE90 or GEnx startup. I'm looking forward to experiencing a widebody (a 787-9 to be precise) startup again in July! ?
Flaps 2, beginning our taxi to Runway 35L.
One last look at the Istanbul Airport terminal. I'm looking forward to being back in July!
The windsock was blowing quite a bit. If I recall correctly, the winds were at 17 knots that morning.
departure from istanbul
Lining up.
Rolling.
Rotate!
Passing the gorgeous IST Tower.
Final sights of Turkish soil before heading into the clouds.
Left turn over the Black Sea.
Cabin after departure.
Takeoff video:
breakfast service
As we neared our cruising altitude over eastern Bulgaria, the cabin crew sprung into action.
I'm sure you can imagine I joy I felt when handed this breakfast tray (the main was of course covered in foil, I was just too anxious to see the meal and forgot to take a picture ?)
The meal consisted of an appetizer of Feta and Kaşar Cheeses, with olives, cucumbers, and tomatoes…
…a delicious main course consisting of scrambled eggs with Feta, a grilled tomato, and a Kaşar and Ham toast…
…and a succulent dessert. I have no idea what it was, so if anyone knows please enlighten me!
The meal was served with real cutlery.
All I can say is this: the Turkish Airlines that we know and love is back!
mid-flight
By the time I finished my meal and my tray was cleared, we had already passed Belgrade and were getting close to Vienna.
Clear blue skies. A view that I'll never take for granted ever again ?
Timișoara, Romania.
For the last 50 minutes of the flight, I watched short videos about Turkish Airlines destinations in Turkey. I hope to visit all those places someday!
arrival into vienna
Commencing our descent south of Budapest.
Hungarian landscape below.
Overflying Neusiedlersee.
Approaching the airport.
Final approach.
Over the runway.
Touchdown on Runway 34 at 8:48 AM, 22 minutes early, after a flight time of 1h50m.
Slowing down.
Vacating the runway.
Landing video:
Taxiing into the apron…
…and pulling into our gate.
One last look at my seat.
Deplaning through Economy…
…and Business.
routing of tk1883
Nothing special to say about our routing, we cruised at 36,000 feet and flew a straightforward routing.
I hope you enjoyed reading about this flight as much I enjoyed the flight itself. I adore Turkish Airlines, and look forward to flying them again soon. As you may have noticed from my not-so-subtle clues, my very first longhaul flight in over a year and a half will be on a Turkish Airlines Boeing 787-9 at the end of July. As for the class of service and the destination, you'll have to be patient, as I will announce that when the report comes out ? As for now, I do hope to see you at the next report, which is a special one. It will cover my last ever flight on an Austrian Q400, taken just 5 days before the last OS Q400 flight to Innsbruck, which also means it will possibly be the last review of that airline-aircraft combination on Flight-Report. Luckily the weather was great, so I was treated to beautiful views. Stay tuned!
Hi, thank you for this report I was waiting for.
This is really a stunning cabin, the size of those screens are crazy for NB aircraft.
It's great to see that Turkish Airlines resumed their award winning catering on their longer European flights, But if I am not wrong, they are still not serving alcohol?
Thank you and take care.
Hi Leadership, nice to see you here at this report! Yes I agree, TK did a superb job with their cabins on the A321neo. You can't find PTVs bigger than those on any other NB aircraft, that's for sure! As for the alcohol, I'm not sure if they had any onboard, but I know that there wasn't any in the lounge, which is a bummer. All the best to you and happy flying!
Hi NewYorker and thanks for sharing this report with us,
I'm glad that you enjoyed the Turkish Airlines A321neo. The seats are really comfortable and the hard product is really above other European carriers for an intra-European flight.
It isn't surprising that boarding was disorganized as usual. Unlike European and US carriers, TK couldn't figured out away to really enforce a proper boarding procedure.
The breakfast looks identical to the same eggs and cheese&ham toast that is served since TK joined the Star Alliance. Although, the dish tastes really good, I would like to see rotating options from TK rather than serving the same dish on all ex-IST morning departures. By the way, if I'm not wrong, the official description of the yoghurt was something like strawberry yogurt with fruit or something like that.
Was Wi-Fi available on this flight? All TK A321neo's should be equipped with Wi-Fi and I was a bit surprised that it's not mentioned in this report.
Once again thanks for sharing and hope to see you in the next report of the series.
Hi ISTFlyer, and thanks for your comment!
That's something I didn't remember from my previous experience. In a way, I guess it's better to have a remote stand at Istanbul, because of the dedicaded Business Class busses.
Yes, you are right about that. I've read many reports here on TK, and it appears as though that is their only breakfast dish. Delicious, indeed, but I agree that it would be nice to have some variety, especially for those who frequently fly with TK.
That sounds about right, thanks for the info!
To be honest I'm not sure. I did see that WiFi dome on the aircraft, but it wasn't written anywhere obvious, and I don't recall the crew mentioning anything about it. I don't really use inflight WiFi, so I don't usually pay attention. But if you say that all A321neo's have WiFi then probably it was available on my flight.
Thanks again for the comment and stopping by. All the best to you and happy flying!
Thanks for the reply,
- Sadly, those Business Class buses are for arrivals only on international flights. However, for domestic flights, a dedicated Business Class bus is provided both for departures and arrivals
- Same, happy flying!
Hi NewYorker,
Thanks for your report, I've been waiting for it! That looked indeed like an amazing flight without any single flaw. And you finally tried the A321neo ;-) The cabin looked very elegant and comfy but I'm quite surprised with that reduced legroom. The food sounds tasty too, did you get an option to choose from?
I unfortunately cancelled my TK trip to Dubai 2 days ago but I'm hoping to swap it for another TK destination, maybe somewhere in Turkey...
Best,
Mateusz
Hi Mateusz, thanks for reading and commenting!
You're absolutely right about that. I wish that more European airlines would be following TK's example, instead of adding BoB menus like the LH Group airlines are doing.
That was surely something special! Although I should note that nowhere during the booking process did United or Turkish mention the neo. I just knew that it would be an A321neo because TK seems to almost exclusively fly those to VIE. On my ticket, it simply said Airbus A321.
Unfortunately not. All passengers were just handed a tray. For a breakfast flight, though, it's ok just to have one option in my opinion. I'd be curious if they offer choices on their lunch/dinner flights.
What a shame! Hopefully you'll get to experience them sometime soon.
Again, thanks for stopping by. All the best!
Hey NewYorker, awesome report as always!
Wow what a difference a few minutes of flight time makes in catering. You go from nothing on the outbound flight to practically long-haul quality meal service on a 2h flight.
That is one sexy cabin. I love me a nice crisp new cabin interior. The J cabin looks really nice with those extra privacy wings. And of course just having real J seats is better than most other carriers within Europe. The Y cabin looks really great as well with those HUGE PTVs and pretty mood lighting.
A product definitely deserving of those high marks for such a short flight!
Looking forward to the future 787-9 report. See ya!
Hi Kevin, and thanks for stopping by this report!
Absolutely. Not even a 2-hour flight would get this service, only flights longer than 2h15m get full service onboard. I would think that what was served is identical to breakfast in Y on long-haul flights, which is really extraordinary, especially in these times when most legacies in Europe have switched to BoB service.
I agree. I think that the product is based on the same seat as United's new Premium Plus, but the privacy wings really make the seat stand out compared to similar products.
Even having such big PTVs on a long-haul flight is rare, so it says a lot about TK for investing the money in their short-haul fleet. Unfortunately, the mood lighting was only colorful during the taxi at IST. I wish that they had kept the lighting on, as it made the cabin feel warmer.
So am I! I've missed long-haul flying soooo much ?
All the best, and happy flying to you! NY
Yep! Good eye...yes, it's the Collins MiQ seat, which is indeed the same seat model as UA Premium Plus, and AA, DL W as well